A former University of Michigan football player has reportedly disclosed that half of the defensive starters and several offensive starters had smoked marijuana just a few hours before their loss to Appalachian State in 2007. He also stated that those same players partied well into the early morning hours. Their justification for these actions: to see how badly they could beat their opponent while high. That plan obviously didn’t work out so well, considering they lost the game 34-32

In his interview, the same player affirmed that, heading into the season, the team was under the impression that they were going to be so good that they rarely participated in voluntary workouts in the off-season. This sense of greatness was obviously the impetus behind their late night partying and the fact that they got high just hours before a major college football game; the first of the 2007 season.

Most people who do not have their heads buried in the sand are aware that college students, including Division 1 football players occasionally indulge in drinking (whether of legal age or not) and recreational drug use. The part of this story that is truly shocking is the fact that members of the Wolverine football team were so confident in their abilities that they chose to dull their senses hours before a football game that they knew could have an impact on the rest of their lives. College football players that play at major universities are well aware that every time they step on the field they are being scouted by professional teams. To think that they would have the audacity or stupidity to risk throwing that a way so that they could take a few bong hits is mind boggling.

In my opinion, this is just another example of the sense of entitlement that is instilled in those who are athletically gifted from the time they are very young. These players took an opportunity that most kids in this county can only hope for and threw it away so that they could party and prove they could beat a seemingly inferior opponent while under the influence. No matter what way you try to spin this it is absolutely asinine. Kids will be kids, but sometimes kids have to use the brains they have been given and understand that there are consequences for idiotic actions.